Sailor Liz Wardley has just announced her participation in the 2012 Vendee Globe. This comes after her signing of a three-year long partnership with a sponsor, whose name is set to be revealed on 9 March in La Roche-sure-Yon in Vendee.

Liz Wardley has therefore become the second woman to sign up after Samantha Davies, taking the total number to seventeen skippers. Liz will be joining Jean-Baptiste’s ocean racing team in Lorient, to get some help during the preparation phase.

Originally from Papua – New Guinea, bursting with energy, this rather short lady is a determined racer and a true adventurer. She built up a solid reputation in ocean racing circles over the past few years thanks to her fighting spirit and experience: World Hobie-Cat vice-champion in 1998, she took part in the 2000-2001 Volvo Ocean Race on board Amer Sports Too. In 2002, she built a Mini 6.50 prototype in New Zealand, before taking part for several seasons in the Figaro circuit. Liz Wardley:

'Lining up for the start of the Vendée Globe this year is fantastic and unexpected. I was looking for sponsors for a transatlantic crossing aboard a dugout canoe and ended up finding a partner for three seasons. I shall be joining a team that will ensure I can prepare for the race in the best possible conditions. It would be something of an exaggeration to say that the Vendée Globe was a childhood dream, as when I started to sail in Australia, the race wasn’t that well known there. Since I have been living in France and I have been racing solo, the Vendée has become a goal for me. I can’t wait to get out there training. I shall be setting out in this Vendée Globe as a genuine racer, with my first goal to get all the way around and complete the race, which is something you have to do before looking at your result.'